BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8, Rachel Stevens 35 points = Bottom Two Dance Off

So... these days in Strictly Come Dancing, 35 points from the Judges can leave you ending up in the bottom two dance off. What a joke this is and not a very funny one.

Professional dance partner, Vincent Simone, choreographed a brilliant American Smooth routine and wouldn't have believed what happened with the voting public. This was Rachel's best performance week so far and she was rewarded with this travesty of events. It appears she must have very little support with the viewers at home which is a bit of a mystery. Has something gone wrong with the vote counting system?

One thinks that maybe it has.

Thankfully Rachel survived the dance off this week, but it was to the detriment of Heather Small, who also danced well. Truth be told, neither of the women should have been there.

Head Judge Len Goodman said of Rachel's original routine, "Diamonds come in small packages and that was a gem of a performance."

Bruno added, "it was Fred and Ginger for me tonight, so elaborate and demanding... you did that effortlessly."

It is perhaps impossible to fathom. Bruno said he felt as if he were in the Twilight Zone. In a week where a score of 35 out of 40 can land you in the bottom two, the dance part of this competition is becoming less and less relevant.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8 - Heather Small leaves

Shocks aplenty on UK television voting competitions this week. This time on Strictly Come Dancing, singer, Heather Small, was the one to go. It was the fourth time in the series she had landed in the bottom two and this one, by far, was the most unfair.

And who was in the dance off with Heather?

Rachel Stevens of course.

What??? How did this happen? Rachel scored 35 out of 40 with the Judges, just 5 points short of a maximum score! There's something very odd going on this week. Maybe someone should check the water supply.

Heather's Tango was the best she had danced so far and she didn't really deserve to be in the bottom two either. Judge Craig described the result as a travesty.

The Judges voted unanimously to keep Rachel in the competition. Having originally scored her a whopping 35 points, there was little much else they could have done. Public voting figures for Rachel must have been ridiculously low which does not bode well.

John Sergeant must genuinely be feeling a bit guilty this time. Maybe he should invent a fake illness and drop out. At this rate, there is a distinct possibility he could reach the final. This week, John scored a meagre 12. That is 23 points less than Rachel Stevens.

Strictly Come Dancing is in danger of becoming a bit of a mockery. A dance competition where you don't have to be a good dancer. Next year my money is on Stephen Hawking to win.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2008 - Week 8 - The Dances this Week

It's Strictly Come Dancing, it's Week 8, the competition is now starting to get tough. Survival is everything as distant thoughts of the final begin to enter the minds of those left in.

What dances are being performed this week and by who? Well, here's the lineup,

Jodie Kidd and Ian - Samba
Rachel Stevens and Vincent - American Smooth
Heather Small and Brian - Tango
Christine Bleakley and Matt - Jive
John Sergeant and Kristina - Cha Cha Cha
Cherie Lunghi and James - Waltz
Tom Chambers and Camilla - Quickstep
Austin Healey and Erin - Rumba

In training, Austin has been finding the Rumba a little awkward, but should go through without much difficulty. Apparently he has been struggling with conveying the emotional side of the dance.

Jodie Kidd's Samba could be tricky. The Samba felled Andrew Castle previously and is a dance to try and get out of the way. She is much better at the Ballroom dances.

Cherie Lunghi should be back in the groove this week after two relatively poor weeks for her. She has remained in the contest however and is now back to a better suited dance for her, a Waltz.

If Mr Sergeant is rescued from the bottom two again, the dance off could be very tense indeed. John has a great chance of doing this as I'm sure, many people only watch the programme, to see him. John Sergeant has the entertainment factor in spades and is a joy to watch... but, for all the wrong reasons.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 8, Can Heather Escape the Dance Off?

Heather Small must be feeling she's in a bit of a war zone at the moment. She has faced three bottom two dance-offs and survived each time. The Bookmaker considers her a strong favourite again to be in a similar situation, but she is not without a chance of escaping the drama.

This week will see Heather Small perform the Tango and in practice she has looked pretty good. Clearly it is a style of dance she is more comfortable with and she has even confessed to liking the routine. This must be a first!

If Heather converts her good work in training to Saturday night then it could spell trouble for Jodie Kidd and Christine Bleakley. John Sergeant is the unknown quantity here. This deep into the contest, it is going to be interesting to see if he continues to have such massive support with the voting public. I'm suspecting that he will.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 8, Who will be Eliminated this time?

As Strictly Come Dancing 2008 forges through to the second half, the competition from here on in increases to tighten up. The real battle perhaps starts from this week onwards.

Here are the latest odds on who will leave the competition this Saturday,

Heather Small 11/10
John Sergeant 7/4
Jodie Kidd 9/2
Christine Bleakley 12/1
Lisa Snowdon 16/1
Cherie Lunghi 25/1
Rachel Stevens 33/1
Tom Chambers 100/1
Austin Healey 100/1

The Market seems to think its all about Heather Small and John Sergeant.

John could start to be in a bit of trouble here. He has progressed much further than his dance talent really should have allowed and if he ends up in the bottom two dance off with anyone, the Judges will surely vote him out. John can ill afford to end up in the bottom two. Such is his popularity with the public, he is not without a chance of escaping it, but it looks as if he'd have to displace either an improving Jodie Kidd or a competent Christine Bleakley.

Heather Small has survived three dance offs and looks as if she may be headed for a fourth unless she and professional dance partner, Brian Fortuna, can come up with something pretty good.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Andrew Verses Heather

After the completion of this weeks Strictly Come Dancing performances, we are down to just nine remaining couples.

In the bottom two dance off this week were former Tennis star, Andrew Castle and singer, Heather Small. Here's how the four Judges presided.

A unanimous decision and Heather Small survives the dance off for a third time. Small and professional dance partner, Brian Fortuna, are starting to become dance off specialists. Heather's Cha Cha Cha was deemed to be better than Castle's latin Samba. It was the right decision.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 7 - Andrew Castle Out

Andrew Castle has been voted out in Week 7 of BBC Strictly Come Dancing. Performing with an injured knee it was probably not that surprising. Andrew will not leave embarrassed. He performed well and lasted a good length of time in the contest.

After the viewers votes were taken into account, the bottom two were Andrew Castle and Heather Small. This was the third visit to the dreaded dance-off for Heather and professional dance partner, Brian Fortuna. And once again, they significantly improved to survive.

As predicted, John Sergeant escaped yet again.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 7 - Who is next to fall? Latest Odds

Week 7 of Strictly Come Dancing is a bit of an odd week. Each celebrity is performing a different dance. Sounds like voting chaos to me. Here are the latest odds on each Celebrity's chances of leaving the dance floor for good,

Heather Small 2/1
Andrew Castle 2/1
John Sergeant 7/2
Jodie Kidd 11/2
Lisa Snowdon 14/1
Christine Bleakley 14/1
Rachel Stevens 66/1
Cherie Lunghi 66/1
Tom Chambers 80/1
Austin Healey 80/1

Heather Small and Andrew Castle are joint favourites at 2-1 to go and I think this is probably about right.

John Sergeant will survive again this week, no matter what. That is a given. So in order to avoid the bottom two, Heather and Andrew are perhaps reliant on a slip up from either Jodie, Lisa or Christine.

Andrew Castle looks particularly vulnerable this time round. He is performing the Samba this week which could be a problem.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 7 - Currents odds to Win !!!

With the elimination of Mark Foster last week, we gracefully move into week 7 of the Strictly Come Dancing contest. Things are gently starting to rise in temperature as the contest now lightly simmers. As each person is voted off, the more costly any errors become for the following weeks survival... unless your name is John Sergeant of course.

Here is how the market currently fairs each remaining celebrities chances of winning the competition.

Austin Healey 7/4
Tom Chambers 3/1
Cherie Lunghi 7/2
Rachel Stevens 9/2
Lisa Snowdon 12/1
Christine Bleakley 16/1
Jodie Kidd 33/1
John Sergeant 66/1
Heather Small 100/1
Andrew Castle 100/1

Very little change at the top. Austin Healey remains 7/4 favourite to win and Cherie Lunghi, for the first time, becomes the most likely woman. Rachel Stevens odds go out a point to 9/2, but one guesses we are yet to see the best from her.

Heather Small escaped the bottom-two dance off this week, but that doesn't stop her dropping to become the 100/1 outsider, a position she shares with Andrew Castle.

The bottom two this week is likely to be any combination of Kidd, Small or Castle.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 6 - The 6th Elimination ?

Week 6 of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing contest will see the remaining celebrities perform either the Paso Doble or the Viennese Waltz. It does not always reflect accurately on the Night, but here are the odds on who is favourite to be eliminated this Saturday.

Heather Small 2/1
Mark Foster 9/4
Andrew Castle 7/2
John Sergeant 4/1
Jodie Kidd 10/1
Lisa Snowdon 25/1
Christine Bleakley 25/1
Rachel Stevens 50/1
Cherie Lunghi 66/1
Tom Chambers 100/1
Austin Healey 100/1

You can pretty much draw a pencil line through John Sergeant. The public love him and will vote for him no matter what. Last week, 16 points (an average of 4 per Judge) was enough to see him through.

In the previous round, no celebrity who finished in the bottom three with the Judges, ended up in the bottom two overall. Taking this into account, it looks as if Heather Small may find herself in the dance-off for the third week running. She isn't the worst out there, and I think she can survive again at the detriment to either Mark Foster or Andrew Castle.

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BBC Strictly Come Dancing - Week 6, Latest Odds to Win

Week 6 into the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing Competition, here are the latest odds on each celebrity to be declared the winner!

Austin Healey 7/4
Tom Chambers 7/2
Rachel Stevens 4/1
Cherie Lunghi 4/1
Lisa Snowdon 10/1
Christine Bleakley 10/1
Jodie Kidd 25/1
Mark Foster 33/1
John Sergeant 50/1
Heather Small 66/1
Andrew Castle 66/1

In terms of movement, the market seems quite stubborn this week. Austin Healey failed for the first time to top the leaderboard, but despite this strengthens from 2-1 into 7/4. The Bookies can't seem to shake of the thought that Austin will win.

Cherie Lunghi is finally adjusted to her proper odds, level with Rachel Stevens at 4-1. Rachel so far, has looked good without being spectacular and hopefully there is more to come.

Lisa Snowdon looks value at 10-1. After topping the leaderboard this week, she is definitely the dark horse.

Predictably chasing the pack are Andrew Castle, Heather Small, John Sergeant and Mark Foster. Ignoring John Sergeant as he is immune to the bottom two, such is his public support, the dance-offs in the next few weeks should be combinations of Castle, Small and Foster. After this time, the contest is going to get really tight indeed.

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BBC Strictly - Week 5 - Heather verses Don

The sixth series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Week 5, saw Don Warrington be voted out of the competition after finding himself for the second time in the dance-off. Here's how the Judges saw it,

Heather Small survives her second dance off in as many weeks. Arguably neither of the two should have been in the bottom two, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Mark Foster and Andrew Foster perhaps should have been competing instead, but it goes to show, they both must have some support with the viewers. Heather could well be in the bottom two next week also.

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BBC Strictly - Week 5 - Don Warrington Eliminated

Bit of a shocker this time. Don Warrington becomes the fifth celebrity to be voted out of this years Strictly Come Dancing Competition.

After the Judges scores, he was ahead of Heather Small, Andrew Castle, Mark Foster, and John Sergeant, so perhaps was a bit unlucky to find himself in the bottom two dance-off again. He scored a quite respectable 25 points.

In fact, all bottom three scorers with the Judges escaped having to dance again to leave Don Warrington Battling Heather Small for survival. Heather won, but there was not a great deal in it.

Heather has now survived two dance offs, and I suspect there are a few more to come.

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BBC Strictly - Week 5 - Who will be Eliminated ?

Exterminate! Exterminate!

Ok, it isn't quite as bad a dalek execution. Maybe. Now we have got the preliminary weeks out of the way and the men and women finally merge into one single competition, just who will be knocked out next?

If they are anything to go by, here is how the betting market sees it,

Jodie Kidd 3/1
Don Warrington 3/1
Mark Foster 7/2
Heather Small 5/1
Andrew Castle 6/1
John Sergeant 7/1
Lisa Snowdon 20/1
Christine Bleakley 25/1
Cherie Lunghi 50/1
Tom Chambers 66/1
Rachel Stevens 100/1
Austin Healey 100/1

The BBC's Strictly Come Dancing is now into Week 5 of its sixth series. The Market seems to think the bottom two for the dance off this week will be Jodie Kidd and Don Warrington. Hmmmm... I'm not too sure about that.

Don is a bit of unknown quantity. He has two dances behind him, one good, the other poor. If he performs to the standard he did in the Tango, he should escape the dance off quite easily. Ever popular John Sergeant should go through again which leaves Mark Foster, Heather Small and Andrew Castle slightly vulnerable if Don also does well.

Favourite to go out is Jodie Kidd. Tall and stunning on the dance floor, I'm hoping she stays in a little longer as I believe she is capable of a great dance if she remains in the competition long enough.

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BBC Strictly - Week 4 - Heather verses Jessie

Following my previous blog, here is how the result played out between Heather and Jessie in the Strictly Come Dancing Dance off,

Both struggled, but the decision was unanimous for Heather, I think as she struggled the least.

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BBC Strictly - Week 4 - Jessie Wallace out

Jessie Wallace has become the second female Celebrity to be eliminated out of The BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

She had finished bottom after the Judges vote, but this time the public failed to save her from facing the Dance-off. Jessie found herself competing against Heather Small for survival and it seemed pretty clear-cut she should go. The Judges agreed, voting unanimously to keep Heather in.

Heather had a bit of a bad week with the Quickstep dance and is sure to improve next week.

The men and women now mix into the same competition and dance directly against each other. This is when the contest starts for real. Celebrities eliminated to date are, Phil Daniels, Gillian Taylforth, Gary Rhodes and Jessie Wallace.

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BBC Strictly - Week 4 - Scores from the Judges

Week 4 in the BBC's competition saw the women compete for the second time. After the Judges votes we can see that Cherie Lunghi has done it again. That's two performances running she has scored higher than hot female favourite, Rachel Stevens to top the leaderboard. It will be very interesting come Monday to see how Bookmakers alter the odds. It now appears that either one of four people could win the contest on what could well become the tightest series ever.

Tonight the two dances were the Quickstep and the Rumba. Here are the scores before the viewers vote is added on Sunday.

Cherie Lunghi & James 35
Rachel Stevens & Vincent 33
Lisa Snowdon & Brendan 32
Christine Bleakley & Matthew 26
Heather Small & Brian 23
Jodie Kidd & Ian 22
Jessie Wallace & Darren 19

Jessie Wallace places last again, but was saved from the bottom two in week 1 and the same could very well happen again such is her popularity. The bottom two in the dance-off could well be Jodie Kidd for a second time and Heather Small. Tune in Sunday to find out!

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